While multiplexes are getting ready to be taken over by the newest flashy, big-budget Marvel movie—the kind of entertainment that has admittedly been missing in action for long—a small-scaled nail-biter is also sneaking in there this season, promising to deliver the theatrical goods. And in spite of its icy backdrop, the part home-invasion chiller, part murder-mystery “Till Death” could prove to be the actual summer movie you’ve been craving for a while: undemanding, a little silly, but a thoroughly engrossing and handsomely paced edge-of-your seat experience all the same.
“I’m gonna cut myself free of you even if it’s the last thing I do.” The line, uttered by Emma (Megan Fox) to her husband the morning after celebrating their 10th anniversary at their remote lake house, is the kind of on-the-nose dialogue that sums up the bluntness of S.K. Dale’s wintry-set thriller, “Till Death.”
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Director Scott Dale delivers a slick genre affair with his feature debut, one that sees the “Transformers” star Megan Fox sharpen her thriller chops to stirring effect. Written by Jason Carvey with clever resourcefulness, “Till Death” plays like a poor man’s “The Invisible Man” at first, signaling a “Sleeping with the Enemy”-adjacent feminine tale of endurance and retaliation through a predictable story: a rich, gorgeous woman attempts to sever ties with a controlling, toxic, and powerful man against the odds. But the film soon culminates in something surprisingly closer to “The Shallows,” by way of “Home Alone” of all things. Statuesque and muscular, Fox isn’t quite under the attack of a vicious, hungry shark here. But once a pair of predatory killers circle her slow-clad lakeside property, her distressing survival battle very much resembles the wounded Blake Lively’s, as she bargains for added lifelines in small increments, relying on nothing but her smarts, reflexes, and the most limited of resources at her disposal.
But by the time Emma explodes in anger at Mark, she’s bathed in his blood, handcuffed to his limp, lifeless body in an empty house with nary a sharp tool (or a working phone) to be found. What was once a psychological plight has become a nightmarish reality in Jason Carvey’s all-too-literal screenplay. Add in the fact that Emma is still reeling from a violent attack she suffered a decade ago (the culprit, we conveniently learn early on, has recently been let out on parole) and you’ve got the makings of a wild genre ride designed to keep us on edge. There’s clearly a plan afoot here and the more Emma explores the carefully staged house around her, the scarier her prospects become.
As expected, Mark is nobody’s fool even though he pretends (initially anyway) not to know about his wife’s affair. So it’s all loaded gazes and pregnant silences at first, with one especially awkward anniversary dinner during which “Till Death” unsubtly telegraphs the kind of man Mark is. You know, someone who patronizingly calls his wife "Pumpkin" (so far, so Patrick Bateman-esque), feels entitled enough to tell her what to wear and overpoweringly whisks her away to a far, secluded location as an anniversary surprise, completely blindfolded. The dynamic between the two is painfully yet aptly cringe-y—he demands and she doesn’t protest, often reminded about her days as a struggling photographer before Mark supposedly “rescued” her.
None quite get the chance to be explored, though. For what begins as a twisted plot straight out of a David Fincher knock-off flick soon devolves into a familiar if oftentimes engaging ride of a film. Once Emma’s lover (Aml Ameen of “I May Destroy You”) and two other men with ulterior motives (Callan Mulvey and Jack Roth) arrive at the icy, snow-covered property, Emma’s sole worry becomes exceedingly simple: survive.
Fox, who remains a magnetic screen presence even when faced with an underwritten role like this one, handily carries the film. Once she’s called to play more than an aloof (or, rather, near-catatonic) wife whose affectless delivery presumably connote a numbing sense of self, Fox gives Emma an adrenaline-driven jolt that makes her the kind of heroine you want to root for. In full final-girl mode, she gets tasked with ever more outrageous scenarios that would be risible and arguably more enjoyable, if “Till Death” had any sense of humor to speak of.